Mark Cuban apologizes, demands apology, after ‘bigot’ comment

Mark Cuban is no stranger to controversy. In fact, he’s usually courting it. This time, though, the media’s knack for fanning racist flames, whether there’s really a spark or not, has thrust the billionaire NBA owner under the Donald Sterling microscope.

The circus of soundbites turned Cuban into the racist punching bag of the day. But without listening to the whole interview, those sexy headlines hardly captured what was an unvarnished take on racism in America. Watch for yourself:

The part that drew the click-baiting headlines was when he said “I know I’m prejudiced and I know I’m bigoted in a lot of different ways. None of us have pure thoughts; we all live in glass houses.” Is that really so shocking?

Actually, it’s what he said in between those lines that Cuban later felt the need to apologize for. “If I see a black kid in a hoodie on my side of the street, I’ll move to the other side of the street.” Uh … “If I see a white guy with a shaved head and tattoos, I’ll move back to the other side of the street.” Better, though one might take issue with comparing a tatted skinhead with a black kid in a sweat shirt.

Either way, the hoodie reference elicited Trayvon Martin backlash, and for that, Cuban said he was sorry. “In hindsight I should have used different examples,” he tweeted. “I didn’t consider the Trayvon Martin family, and I apologize to them for that.”

While Cuban said his apologies, he also demanded one from Bleacher Report for what he called “#HeadlinePorn”. Bleacher Report backpedaled, offering this note: “The original headline on this article was changed to better represent the scope of Mark Cuban’s remarks. Portions of the article have been revised for the same reason.”

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